Rami Hamdallah withdraws offer to quit as Palestinian prime minister

Rami Hamdallah, the Palestinian prime minister, has withdrawn his offer to quit a day after presenting his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas, only two weeks after taking office, according to an official.

Mr Hamdallah emerged from a "positive" two-hour meeting with Mr Abbas, a senior government official said, having made clear he wants his powers – and those of his two deputies – unequivocally defined to avoid further power squabbles.

"Hamdallah met Abbas ... in the president's headquarters in Ramallah and informed him he had decided to withdraw his resignation," the official told the AFP news agency.

According to sources close to him, Mr Hamdallah had been incensed by Mr Abbas's decision to appoint two deputy premiers in a government formed after his predecessor Salam Fayyad, a Western-backed economist, quit.

"Hamdallah wants clear and defined powers as prime minister and for his deputies, based on the law, so his authority is not encroached on," the official said.

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Mr Hamdallah had been "upset over his treatment by his two deputy prime ministers, Ziad Abu Amr and Mohammed Mustafa, and their attempts to gain powers not assigned to them," another official said.

Mr Fayyad resigned in mid-April after months of difficult relations with Mr Abbas which culminated over the resignation of Finance Minister Nabil Qassis, which the premier accepted but the president did not.